Greetings Fellow Gamers,
I am contemplating the Defiant property for my armor.
I am wondering what to be defiant against? I am thinking Evil Outsiders or Undead (I'm playing a cleric of Iomedae in the Shattered Star Adventure Path). If I was trying to be cheeky, I would just do Human... but that seems against type for my character.
Could I, for the appropriate cost increase, become defiant in two creature types? Say: Defiant (Evil Outsiders, Undead) at an effective cost modifier of +2 (above and beyond the minimum +1 enhancement bonus)
Also, if I have a Defiant Shield, and Defiant Armor, and am facing a creature type that they are keyed against, would I be at full tank mode?
For example:
+2 Defiant (Evil Outsider) Breastplate
+1 Defiant (Evil Outsider) Heavy Steel Shield
-Would provide an effective AC bonus of +15 (+10 for the breastplate, and +5 for the Heavy Shield)
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon
As with Favored Enemy and Bane, Defiant is only as effective as often as it can be applicable. So if you plan on fighting a lot of X types of creature, getting a Defiant property keyed to that type of creature will ensure a lot of powerful use against that type of creature.
Of course, expecting constant usage is wishful thinking, but there are APs and PFS Scenarios that have the usage of a single type of enemy. (It's practically the sole reason why Crane Wing was viewed as overpowered in PFS, and nerfed because of it, even though it was only powerful due to ignoring pre-requisites.)
To answer your questions now.
1. Yes, you can have 2 of the Defiant properties keyed to 2 different creature types as long as you pay the respective costs and reduce your limits for it. Most properties wouldn't work that way, but since this property has a specific choice that is made at the time of creation, and each choice being (or should be) an independent property of each other, this serves as an exception to that rule.
2. To answer this one, let's refer to the description:
Armor and shields with this special ability excel at blocking the attacks of certain types of creatures, similar to a bane weapon's excelling against certain foes. Against the designated foe, the item's enhancement bonus to AC is +2 better than its actual bonus and provides DR 2/— against attacks from that foe. This increase in enhancement bonus applies only to the armor or shield's enhancement bonus, not to temporary bonuses (such as the magic vestment spell).
Reviewing the text, if you had a +1 Defiant (X) armor and +1 Defiant (X) shield, the Enhancement Bonus increase would stack, as it applies to the enchanted item's enhancement bonus. Since that affects 2 different bonus types, they would stack. However, since both items grant DR 2/- against the designated creature type, that would not stack since that effect is keyed to the same statistic, and share the same type.
Additionally, if you had +1 Defiant (X) and Defiant (Y) Armor, with a similarly enchanted Shield, if a creature fits under both X and Y templates, I believe those effects would accumulate as above. For example, You would have an effective +5 AC on both items against a Chaotic Evil Demon Outsider, though your DR would remain unchanged.
I didn't even think about putting Defiant (Chaotic Outsider) and Defiant (Evil Outsider) on the same piece of gear! If this character was in Wrath of the Righteous (like she was supposed to be before the DM changed his mind and decided on Shattered Star) I would totally do that!
I'm looking at Undead, and Evil Outsiders, because they should be common enough to see some use, and still be useful/scaling at higher levels.
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon
I didn't even think about putting Defiant (Chaotic Outsider) and Defiant (Evil Outsider) on the same piece of gear! If this character was in Wrath of the Righteous (like she was supposed to be before the DM changed his mind and decided on Shattered Star) I would totally do that!
I'm looking at Undead, and Evil Outsiders, because they should be common enough to see some use, and still be useful/scaling at higher levels.
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon
Since the ability references Bane, it probably should function like Bane. Which FAQ states that if you have multiple Bane effects on a weapon only one applies. So, you should probably only get the effects of Defiant once. So you can have multiple different Defiant properties, but you will only recieve the normal bonus at any time and it would not stack.
Bane: Can I apply multiple bane special abilities to the same weapon? If so, do their effects stack?
You can apply multiple bane special abilities to the same weapon. For example, you can have a +1 dragon- and fey-bane longsword, which has an increased enhancement bonus and damage against dragons and against fey.
If you have multiple bane effects on a weapon and attack a creature against which more than one bane applies (such as a chaotic- and evil-outsider bane weapon used against a demon), the effects do not stack: the weapon's enhancement bonus is only +2 higher than its actual enhancement bonus, and it only deals +2d6 points of damage against that opponent.
(Compare to fighter weapon training or ranger favored enemy bonuses, both of which say you use the highest bonus if more than one bonus applies.)
Ahh, thanks Claxon!
But it would still apply the +2 for a shield and the +2 for the armor. So in that regard it could still help me play the turtle game.
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon
Ahh, thanks Claxon!
But it would still apply the +2 for a shield and the +2 for the armor. So in that regard it could still help me play the turtle game.
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon
Yes, you could get the enhancement bonus to each piece of armor. Granting you +4 total AC against a specific creature type. But this works only because the enhancement applies to the specific piece of equipment.